Water-power-operated device



Aug. 31 1926.

R. 7 mw n 7 1 mm m 4". .M VN m 8 m mw T w 5 v .r 6 1 t W e w m e K & W 2

Filed Dec. 29. 1924 l CUMMINGS WATER POWER OPERATED DEVICE Aug. 31,1926.

l. CUMMINGS WATER POWER OPERATED DEVICE Filed Dec-. 29, 1924 2Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. /Al///Y6 COMM/7'65 BY 57W 4 ATTORNEY PatentedAug. 31, 1926.

UNITED STATES IRVING CUMMINGS, OF OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA.

WATER-POWER-OPERATED DEVICE.

Application filed December 29, 1924. Serial No. 758,554.

My invention relates to water-power operated devices of the type adaptedto be attached to an ordinary faucet, or the like, and designed foroperating household and other devices such as require rotary motion fordriving.

An object of the invention is to provide a device of the characterdescribed which is arranged to permit a ready interchange or.

substitution of driven devices.

Another object of the invention is to pro vide a device of the characterdescribed which may be adjusted to enable the driven tool or implementto. be held in and operated at any desired angle.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device of thecharacter described in which some of the motor parts while being of acomparatively intricate and highly technical, though eficient design,may, nevertheless, be manufactured at a low cost.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a device of thecharacter described which may be attached quite close to a wall withoutimpairing the usefulness of the device.

The invention possesses other objects and features of advantage, some ofwhich, with the foregoing, will be set forth in the followingdescription of the preferred form of my invention which is illustratedin the drawings accon'ipanying and forming part of the specification. Itis to be understood that I do not limit myself to the showing made bythe said drawings and description, as I may adopt variations of thepreferred form within the scope of my invention as set forth in theclaims;

Referring to said drawings:

Figure l is a longitudinal sectional View of my device equipped with aheater.

Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure 1, showing the device equipped witha buiiing wheel instead of the beater.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary sectional detail view taken on the line 33 ofFigure 1.

Figure at is a plan view of the device showing it' operativelysupported.

Figure 5 is a bottom view of the device with the driven member removed.

Figures 6 and 7, are, respectively, side and sectional views of one ofthe complementary disks comprising the rotor.

Figure 8 is sectional view taken through at any desired angle.

an adjoining pair of buckets of the two rotor disks.

The device of my invention includes a water motor 8 preferably of therotary impact type and arranged to be connected to a source of watersupply under pressure. For household use the motor is usually connecteddirectly to a faucet such as shown at 9 and is preferably so attachedthereto as to firmly support the motor and driven device during theoperation of the latter. As-here shown, the connection of the faucet andmotor is effected by means of a coupling 13 fixed to the inlet pipe 14of the motor and adapted for removable attachment to the discharge end16 of the faucet.

The motor is provided with a casing 17 of generally semi-cylindricalform and a rotor 18 arranged within the casing andmounted upon a shaft19 which is. disposed concentric with the arc of the casing. The casingis preferably formed of two stamped sections secured together by a lapseam 21 at their outer edges. The inlet pipe 14, as well as thedischarge pipe 22 of the motor, is formed integral with casing andextends tangentially of the casing and the rotor. Arranged within theintake pipe and the coupling 13 is a nozzle 23. having a passage 2%which communicates with the coupling passage :26

and faucet orifice 27 and is arranged to direct a jet of watertangentially against the periphery of the rotor. The coupling isarranged to be removably secured to the faucet by suitable means such asset screws 28, and means are provided for securing the inlet pipe to thecoupling so as to provide a sealed joint therebetween. Means are alsoprovided, which in the present form of the invention are embodied in thesecuring and sealing means just referred to, for'allowing the motorshaft to be moved to and operated As here shown, such positioning of theshaft is provided for by enabling the motor as a whole to revolve aboutthe common axis of nozzle and inlet passage and about the common axis ofthe coupling passage and faucet orifice The nozzle as previouslyexplained is arranged to be securely fixed to the casing, and asillustrated in Figure 1, is provided adjacent its discharge oriticewithoppositely disposed bosses 29 'havingreduced ends '31 which extendthrough, "perforations 32 formed in the casing, the

outer extremities of such ends being flattencd to preferably permanentlysecure the casing and nozzle together. Formed in the coupling is a bore33 coaxial with the nozzle passage and in which the journal portion 34:of the nozzle is rotatably engaged. It will be clear that rotation ofthe nozzle in the coupling will cause the motor to revolve about an axisperpendicular to its shaft. To provide a sealed joint between the casingand coupling, the outer end of the inlet pipe is bent inwardly to form acircular flange 36 which is arranged to be clamped between a cylindricalcollar 3'7 formed on the nozzle and a gasket 38 seated in a recess 39 inthe side of the coupling. Rotation of a thumb screw l0 extending throughthe coupling and engaging in a threaded. hole 4-1 of the nozzle servesto vary the clamping pressure to which the flange may be subjected. Itis to be noted that clamping the nozzle to the coupling serves to holdthe motor in the desired adjusted position.

Rotation of the motor about an axis perpendicula'r to the one aboutwhich it may rotate by reason of the rotatable mounting of the nozzle,may be readily effected by temporarily loosening one of the set screws28 and then revolving the motor structure around the portion of thefaucet engaged in the coupling. It will now be clear that the motorshaft may thus be positioned and operatively held in any desiredposition.

The coupling, whose features of general application are being made thesubject of a separate application Letters Patent, is provided with noveland extremely effective means for preventing leakage of the waterbetween the coupling and faucet, by taking advantage of thecomparatively high pressure of water due to the restricted passage ofthe nozzle. Formed in the coupling is a groove 42 in which is engaged acentrallyperforated diaphragm 43 preferably made of soft rubber andformed concave on opposite sides thereof. The end of the faucet isarranged to contact with one side of the diaphragm so that such side hasa lesser area exposed to the pressure than the other side. In thismanner pressure of the water in the coupling will at all times lenditself toward effectively sealing the connection between the couplingand faucet.

It will'be noted by referring to Figures & and 5 of the drawings thatboth the inlet 14 and discharge 22 are located at what may be termed therear edge of the casing, and that the motor shaft is located wellforward of such edge and intermediate the side edges of the casing.Furthermore, the intake and discharge are aligned and coaxial with anaxis of rotation of the motor about the nozzle axis. In this manner eventhough the motor and device are positioned quite close to a wall theiroperation will not be interfered with, and their usefulness will not beim )aired.

(Swing to the fact that the discharge passage is directly aligned withthe intake passage ancl tangentially disposed with respect to the rotor,a smooth flow of water through the casing will be assured, and,consequently, a more ellicient transmission of the force of the water tothe rotor will result.

The rotor 18, with which the motor is equipped, is of the twin-bucketwater-wheel type. Heretofore, it has generally been deemed impractical,on account of the large number and form of the parts involved, tomanufacture this type of wheel for motors other than those of extremelylarge size. However, in accordance with my invention, such a type ofwheel is provided by the use of but two disks, thereby rendering suchtype of wheel entirely practical with the small motor used in thepresent device. As clearly illustrated in the drawings the wheel orrotor comprises a pair of coaxial disks at and 45 perforated and spacedadjacent the center portion and held against each other between suchportion and the edge portion 47. The disks are suitably secured togetherand said edge portions thereof are inclined from each other and cut andbent as clearly shown in Figures 6 and 7 to form circumferentiallyspaced vanes or buckets 18. The vanes of each disk extend transverselythereof and contact with the vanes of the other so as to define pairs ofco operating vanes or what is usually known as twin buckets. The sidesof the cups diverge outwardly and extend forwardly, and the adjacent orinner sides thereof meet and define an acute angle. In addition tofunctioning to transfer the energy of the jet to the wheel, the innersides serve as a means of dividing the jet of water as it strikes thewheel, while the outer sides serve to deflect the water from the bucketsso that it will not rebound on the buckets following.

Means are provided for enabling any one of a number of different devicesto be operably connected to the motor or interchanged for another. Inaccordance with the foregoing, the shaft 19 upon which the rotor ismounted and with which it is fixed for rotation, is formed hollow, andone end 51 thereof is closed, as by a cap 52, and lies within thecasing, while the other end 53 is open and lies without the casing. Theshaft is rotatably mounted in bearings 5i and 56, the former of which ispositioned in the side wall 57 of the casing and the latter is spacedoutwardly from the former and is supported by a supplemental casingwhich encloses the outwardly extending portion of the shaft and is fixedto the main casing 17. Arranged to be removably inserted in the hollowshaft 19,-is a shaft 58,

with which each of the devices that are to be driven by the motor areequipped. It will, of course, be understood that the particular form andsize of each shaft 58 will vary in accordance with the character anddesign of the device with which it is associated. As will be clear byreference to Figure 3, the inner end portion of the shafts 58 are madeflat, or the like, so that when the shaft is properly inserted in therotor shaft 19 which is correspondingly formed, the two shafts willoperate as one. Frictional or other engagement between the flat or otherportions .of the two shafts are preferably provided for, so that properoperative engagement may be maintained.

In Figure 2-, the shaft 58 is associated with a bufling wheel 60, and isoperatively held in the cooperating shaft 19 for move ment with therotor.

In Figure 1, a heater 61 is shown as having displaced the buiiingarrangement illustrated in Figure 2. The shaft 58, as here incorporated,is made rather long in conformity with the beating element 67 which is'fixed thereon for rotation therewith. In this arrangement the shaft 58is mounted in bearing portions 63 and 64 of a spider (36. The latter isalso provided with arms 67 which are arranged to engage in openings 68in the supplemental casing 55, to hold the spider against rotation withthe shaft when the latter are operatively engaged. The casing 55 ispreferably formed with nipples 69 which are adapted to engage inopenings 71 in the arms to aid in releasably connecting the beater tothe motor when the shafts are properly engaged.

The discharge 22 is provided with an extension 72 which is adjustablyand rotatably mounted on said pipe, such mounting being of considerableimportance for the reason that notwithstanding the fact that the motormay be rotated about a horizontal axis, the extension may be positionedwith its discharge end lowermost in all positions of the motor. It mayalso be noted that since the motor is arranged to rotate about the axisof the discharge passage, no adjustmentother than that of the extensionis required to insure the most direct discharge of the water in anyposition of the motor.

While I have shown and described the motor in connection with a beaterand a buffer appliance it is obvious that a host of other appliances maybe adapted for operation by the motor.

I claim:

l. A rotary impact water turbine having a casing with coaxial inlet andoutlet pipes and a bucket wheel tangent to the axis of the pipes, and acoupling attachable to the upright outlet of a faucet and having achamber part coaxial with the said pipes, said casing being journaled onthe coupling and bodily turnable on the axis of the chamber and swivelmeans connecting the shell to said chamber part, whereby the turbine canbe set at various angles as to the stream axis without changing the lineof flow through the pipes.

2. A rotary impact water turbine having a casing with coaxial inlet andoutlet pipes and a bucket wheel tangent to the axis of the pipes, andcoupling attachable to the upright outlet of a faucet and having achamber part coaxial with the said pipes,

said casing being swivelly journaled on the coupling and bodily turnableon the axis of the chamber and means for releasably clamping the casingto the coupling; whereby the turbine can beset at various angles as tothe stream axis without changing the line of flow through the pipes,said chamber part being adjustable around the axis of the faucet outletto swing the turbine thereabout.

3. A water turbine motor including a shell, a turbine wheel cased in theshell, coaxial inlet and outlet pipes tangent to the wheel forstraight-line inflow and outflow of water, and a coupling attached tothe inlet pipe and. having a flow chamber coaxial with the pipes and alateral coupling ring for attachment to a source of water supply, saidshell being journaled on the coupling so as to be bodily adjusted aroundthe axis of the flow chamber without in anywise changing the plane orline of flow through the pipes.

4C. In a device of the character described, a water motor including acasing having an inlet pipe extending therefrom and provided with aninwardly extending end flange, a coupling adapted for releasablyconnecting said inlet pipe to a water supply pipe or the like andincluding a nozzle slidably held in said coupling and arranged. toproject therefrom into said inlet pipe, a shoulder on said nozzlearranged to abut against the rear face of said flange, and means forclamping said flange between said shoulder and the coupling.

5. In a device of the character described a water motor including acasing having a perforated inlet portion partially extending therefromand provided with an illwardly extending end flange, a coupling toconnect said inlet to a feed pipe or the like, a nozzle slidable in saidcoupling and having a collar intermediate its ends arranged to engagethe inner sides of said inlet, means extending outwardly from saidnozzle adjacent its discharge orifice and through said inletperforations for securing said nozzle to the casing, and means forreleasably clamping said inlet flange between said collar and a side ofsaid coupling.

6. A water turbine having a mounting device attachable to a water outletand being angularly turnable about the axis of the outlet, said mountinghaving a dischargechamber at an angle to the said water outlet; the bodyof the turbine being mounted on and tiltable about the axis of, the saidchamber, and the turbine having a discharge tube coaxial the axis ofsaid chamber.

7.111 apparatus of the class described, a casing, jet directing; meanstherein, and a rotor against which the jet is tangentially eilfective;the rotor comprising a set of comilementary disks each having theirmargins out and bent to form on each circumferentially spaced peripheralbuckets having stream reversing side walls presenting concave facesacross the jet, the bucket parts of one disk beingoppositely offset asto those of the other.

S. A rotary impact water motor including a casing, jet directing meanstherein, and a rotor against which said jet is arranged to betangentially directed and comprising a pair of complementary disks eachhaving their edges slit and bent to form circumferentially-spaccdjet-centering peripheral buckets, the buckets of one disk beingassociated with the adjacent buckets of the other disk whereby theadjoining sides of each pair of buckets will define a jet splittingelement therefor.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand at Oakland,California, this 23rd day of December, 1924.

IRVING CUMMINGS.

